Why I'm Afraid of Writers Conferences by Jenny Rae Rappaport

Posted by Colin Harvey Sep 21, 2009

As a literary agent, one of the perks of my job is that I get to travel to several writers conferences each year. As I write this, I'm about to head off to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference and I'm smack in the middle of my usual routine--sheer panic.

Here's a trade secret: literary agents are just as nervous about meeting new writers, as the writers are about meeting them. Agents want to make a good impression on the conference attendees, since all of them are prospective clients. It's like an entire weekend-long job interview for the agent, where you're getting judged not only on your demeanor, but on the quality of your conversation.

Ostensibly, I'm invited to these conferences to share my experience as a publishing industry professional; to drop pithy bits of wisdom into the ears of hungry writers who have paid large sums of money to attend. But I'm also invited to take pitches, which are private appointments where a writer has ten minutes to tell me why I should represent their book.

Many writers find the process of pitches to be excruciatingly painful--it's a very difficult thing to briefly summarize a novel and convince someone to read it. I don't find them quite as painful as the writers, but I've come to realize that they're the main source of my conference anxiety. Here I am, face to face with someone who may be a really great person. . .and their book isn't the right one for me to represent. And I have to crush their dreams in person when I say "No".

I've had writers visibly shake in front of me. I've had writers beg me to read their books. I've had writers approach me with wonderful book ideas that are in genres that I don't represent at all. I have to say "No" to all of them.

Publishing is a tough business, particularly during this recession. It's hard for writers to find agents; hard for agents to sell books; and hard for publishers to find people to buy books. We're all on this crazy rollercoaster together, working to bring great books to new readers. So for this conference, when I say "No", it will still mean "No", but it will also mean: "Don't give up. I know how you feel. Keep writing because one day things will get better. If the first novel or the fifteenth novel doesn't sell, don't stop writing them, if it's something you truly love to do."

I'll still have to crush dreams in person, but maybe I'll get to meet some new friends, too. I'll get to have cupcakes with a crowd of writers who talk to me on Twitter. I'll get to complain about the state of publishing with my fellow agents and editors. And even though it will still feel like a weekend-long job interview, it's for a job that I love to do.